Wild

Chapter 1

He woke up slower than normal today, like his mind was soaked in tar. The first thing he was aware of was the thick layer of dirt and grime he was covered in. He tried to open his eyes but immediately scrunched them shut at the gritty feeling, like he hadn't slept in weeks. Slowly he rubbed his tightly shut eyes with the palm of his hand, hoping to relieve some of the discomfort. That seemed to allow him some relief as he squinted his eyes open a crack, only to shut them again at the blindly light shining directly in his face.

He quickly raised up his arm to block the light so he could figure out where he was. Once he finally adjusted to his still bright surroundings he blinked in confusion. Green, that's all he saw. Thick shoots of grass that rose far above his head, only letting rays of light stream through the stems. And he so happened to have been sleeping directly in one of these beams of light. He tilted his head curiously as he finally registered sound, bird chirping in the early morning hours and wind gently ruffling the leaves it swept by. He could smell the morning dew in the air, and as he ran a hand through his grimy blond hair he could feel the dampness seeping in.

He groaned and scrunched his eyes closed again, feeling dizzy from looking up. He decided to focus more on his immediate surroundings to take things a bit slower. He blinked his eyes open and looked around the damp soil he laid on. only to cringe seeing his mud caked green clothes he wore, clearly however he got here hadn't been easy. He jumped startled seeing movement beside him, only to blink dumbfounded at the pill bug crawling by like it didn't have a care in the world. The bug was nearly the length of his arm with more legs then he could count and a tough looking scale like shell. Yet it just continued on its way, not even glancing at him as it crawled right by his foot. He shuffled back on the soil uncomfortable with being near the bug, only to pause when his hand hit something solid and cold. He looked back to see a dirty white mask sitting on the ground, with a simple smiley face on it. 'Oh....how could I forget?'

He remembered now, who he was and how he got here. His name was Dream and he was a borrower, a race of people only a few inches tall that lived in secret, hiding away from humans. Surviving by taking the bare minimum from the humans they resided with. More often than not borrowers chose to live in the walls of a human's house, a risky life but as stable as any borrower could ask for. But it wasn't impossible to hear about borrowers living in forests or tunnels underground, completely away from humans. But that life never tended to be long lived, that's why they chose to live with humans. Protected from the harsh weather and mobs that wouldn't hesitate to kill or crush them. You'd think that them being so small would deter the monster from hunting but only worked half the time.

But that brought up the question of what dream was doing here, covered in dirt and more sore then he'd ever felt before. Well unfortunately it wasn't of his own choice, dream was actually one of those more risky borrowers that lived in the wild, among the mobs and harsh environment. He lived deep in a dark wood forest, high up in the trees with other borrowers like him, the ones that refused to live among humans. Well really he was there because that's where his parents raised him and it was near impossible for borrowers to move. But no matter the danger of the wild somehow he survived, outliving so many of the borrowers he grew up with.

That was until their luck ran out, tragedy striking the small group of borrowers living in the trees. Lightning struck just two trees away from their home and started a horrible fire, burning so much of their forest. Including his village, and as far as he knew he was the only survivor. Every time his eyes closed long enough to fall asleep he would see the burning trees and watch his house's support snap as it fell into the darkness below. He lost the only place he called home.....

Dream sucked in a shuddering breath and blinked out of the trance he had fallen in, staring at the dirty mask. It was all he had left of his people, of his parents. Dream frowned, feeling warm tears falling down his face, leaving trails in the dirt he was covered in. He shook his head and roughly rubbed away the tears, he could feel those emotions later when he wasn't in an unknown location with no clue if any humans were nearby. Right now he needed to stick with his plan and find a safe place to set up base, he was hoping he'd be lucky enough to run across a river and some dark wood. That would be a start for a new home, as flimsy as his plan sounded it was all he had.